The Sakura Shawl Inspiration

When Thistle and Hart asked me to create a custom design for her yarn, I was (and still am) on cloud 9! Not only do I LOOOOOOVE their yarn; I have been wanting to make a shawl for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity to do it!

Becky and I are both from the lovely city of Salem, Oregon where we have the joy of experiencing many natural beauties, including having four seasons. In the spring, our state capitol has a gorgeous bloom of cherry blossoms (“Sakura” in Japanese) and you can find locals and tourists alike hanging out in the capitol lawn enjoying their luscious pink aura. They only last for a short time, usually at the beginning of April, so its a real treat if you are around to see them bloom!

Enter, my inspiration for the Sakura Shawl! Thistle and Hart designed a specific colorway to match the colors of these gorgeous flowers. In addition to the stunning blossom color, I included special stitches in the shawl to represent the blossoms, branches, and trunk of the tree.

But wait….there’s more! While we were on the kick of all things local to our area, Thistle and Hart decided to included another colorway of one of my favorite teal/aqua tones named after our Willamette River.

If you are dying to get your hand on some of this spectacular yarn, she will be hosting pre-orders on May 1st! This is an exclusive colorway and will only be produced in collaboration with the Sakura Shawl design!

You will be given the option to buy the yarn as a part of a kit (yarn + my pattern) or on its own. Each set has two skeins of luxurious light weight, 100% super wash merino wool and let me tell you, the squish-factor is mind blowing! For those who order a kit, the digital pattern will be downloadable on Ravelry at a discounted price!

The pattern will be released on May 13th (Mother’s day). Those who order with pre-orders should have their yarn by the time the pattern is released, barring any post office delays.

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I’m so honored to be a part of this collaboration and I’m so excited to share all of our hard work with you.